Google
started out as a search engine that was the new kid on the block
fighting against the big firms like Yahoo for a piece of the market.
As time went by, Google became the most popular search engine online
in many countries including the U.S. and it runs the most successful
advertising program online giving it an enormous amount of cash to
spend on other projects.

Since the early days, Google has
continually added to the things that it offers and does. It has moved
from a search firm to being a software firm with offerings competing
against Microsoft and more. With the unveiling of the Nexus
One, Google started selling phones directly to customers.
With Google
Wave and Google Voice, the company stepped into the
communications and collaboration markets as well starting the
transformation into a telecommunications firm for the search
giant.

Google has now announced its next big plan to add to
its offerings and bring new services to its users. Google announced
on its official
blog a new experimental plan for a fiber network that will
bring huge increases in internet speeds to the public.

Google
outlines its vision for the fiber network in the blog post, "Imagine
sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical
imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a
specialist in New York. Or downloading a high-definition, full-length
feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with
classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a
university lecture. Universal, ultra high-speed Internet access will
make all this and more possible."

Google is planning to
build and test a new ultra-high speed fiber optic broadband network
in a small number of trial locations across America. The network will
be capable of delivering speeds over 100 times faster than most
people in the country have access to today at 1Gbps. The blazing
speed will be offered using a fiber-to-the-home connection.

Google
claims that it plans to offer connectivity to anywhere from 50,000 to
500,000 users at a competitive price. The goal of the experiment is
to see what sort of apps developers can come up with when there is a
huge amount of bandwidth. Google also wants to test new ways to build
fiber networks and help inform and support similar deployments in
other parts of the world. The network it creates will offer open
access with a choice of multiple service providers.

The
announcement today marks the first step in the new program with a
request for information to help find interested communities. Google
is welcoming responses from local governments and citizens. Those
interested in the program can respond to Google on a page
set up for the experiment. Responses will be collected until
March 26. After that date Google will announce the communities it
plans to target later in 2010 for the network installations. Google
reports that it has urged the FCC to look for new and novel ways to
get broadband to more of the country as part of the National
Broadband Plan and the experiment is its contribution to the effort.

"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk." -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs